Library seeks $2K for video games

A proposed library budget for fiscal 2014 aimed at the growing need for modern media seeks to add a new line item: $2,000 for video games.

In the past year, Princeton Public Library has seen a 16 percent increase in circulation, with a total of 47,763 items being checked out, said library director Mary Barroll.

These numbers show great participation from the community, but the library wants to provide more services to the youth of Princeton, Ms. Barroll said.

“We have a really enthusiastic core group of teens in the library, and we are hoping to grow that number,” she said.

Catering to the teens, the library purchased 34 video games over the course of the past year. The games averaged 33 circulations per month.

“It’s kind of an amazing statistic, because it shows that almost every one of the games are being circulated each month,” Ms. Barroll said.

Princeton is not the only library lending video games. In fact, according to a survey of Massachusetts library directors, only one library in the whole state reported that having video games at a library was not beneficial, Ms. Barroll said.

The real aim of bringing more video games to the library is to have more teens browsing the library and checking out not only video games, but also books, she said.

“I think the idea of bringing expanded services to entice kids to come into the library is a great thing,” said Selectman Neil Sulmasy.

The $2,000 devoted to video games would be enough to purchase 40 games, as games are fairly expensive.

Ms. Barroll assured residents the games are screened before being purchased.

“They’re all family friendly so that teens and young adults can play them safely,” she said.

The library’s proposed budget also features a $2,000 increase to add to the collection of audio books.

Last year, the library spent $5,500 on audio books, whichmade up nearly 10 percent of the total circulation, averaging 18 books out per day, Ms. Barroll said.

“There are a lot of people making long commutes, and they love the idea of having an audio book and listening to them on the commute,” she said.

The library has to keep up with the growing trends of technology to stay relevant, Ms. Barroll said.

The total expenses proposed for the library budget for fiscal 2014 is $58,860, plus $100,282 for salaries, bringing the total proposed library budget to $159,142.